Unable to launch all Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign

[Jan0D4E]

Hi, same problem here all day. All other apps work except PS, AI, ID. 

<Title renamed by moderator>

[Kristina2723424032as]

I am also having the same issue. I am on a PC and it doesnt come up with any error message just will not load once i double click or press run as administrator.

So frustrating! Does anyone have any steps to fix it for a PC?

[Laubender]

Hi @Kristina2723424032as ,

had no issues with updating to InDesign 18.5.0 on my Windows 10 laptop.

You could try a clean install. I always do that when a new update is visible at the Creative Cloud Desktop App.

Disable automatic updates in the Creative Cloud Desktop App.

Backup InDesign Cache and Preferences. For all versions of InDesign that were ever installed on your machine.

Then rename or remove them. Uninstall InDesign 2023. Restart your machine. Install InDesign 2023 version 18.5.0. InDesign will build new cache and preferences folders.

Preferences on a Windows 10 or 11 PC:

User > [Your User Name] > AppData > Roaming > Adobe > InDesign > Version 18.0

Cache on a Windows 10 or 11 PC:
User > [Your User Name] > AppData > Local > Adobe > InDesign > Version 18.0

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html

Do not migrate settings.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender]

Hi @Kristina2723424032as ,

also read into:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/crash-on-launch.html

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Abhishek Rao · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

We’ve received reports of apps crashing or becoming unresponsive after launch, particularly following the release of version 19.5. Unlike generic crashes, this issue specifically causes all Adobe apps to get stuck at the splash screen or enter a “not responding” state, preventing them from launching.

The problem has been traced to certain Beta Adobe applications related to video composition and editing. We recommend updating all Beta and released versions of video-specific Adobe applications on your system, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder. After updating, please relaunch InDesign to see if this resolves the issue.

For other generic cases, we suggest trying the solutions listed in this help article: Fix crash issues when launching InDesign (https://adobe.ly/3Apjedh)

We appreciate your patience and are here to assist if you need further help. If you have any further questions or need assistance, please feel free to reach out.

Thank you, 

Abhishek Rao

[Polskie Stowa33627878otey]

Hi, InDesign (19.5) keeps trying to open the recovered file - it freezes in the start screen, but I see that the recovery files keep coming back (after deleting) to their location in ../Caches/InDesign Recovery. I thought that maybe it's the problem with these Beta apps and uninstalled the one I had (Ps), but it didn't change anything - after reopening Id it still doesn't work. All other apps I have updated and Media Encoder even not installed.

Earlier I also tried reinstalling Id and opening the older version (18.5) - it also stucked on opening this recovering file - when I was opening only the app, not the file. It (in both versions) doesn't show me any messages if I want or not to recover this file anymore. What should I do?

I work in Windows 11.

[ethanearle]

Glad it's not just me.

18.5 needed resetting from dock by pressing CMD+OPT+CTRL+SHIFT to reset preferences to be able to get in, just like @smasondesign, if closed, the app preferences would need resetting again.

Only happens on 18.5. Rolled back to 18.4 and had no such issue.

[treecycles]

It would've been helpful if either the CC app had prevented me from installing v18.5 while running Ventura 13.1, or if Adobe had fixed this issue in the meantime. I updated InDesign to 18.5 yesterday and started a project I now can't open without some workaround or updating my OS, when I have work to do. Glad I Googled this though. Thanks for reporting the issue. I hope Adobe doesn't repeat this error in future versions.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @treecycles ,

We sincerely apologize for the trouble. To address the macOS crash upon launch problem on macOS, updating your operating system to the latest build of macOS Ventura, which is 13.6, could help. We've observed similar cases where users updated their OS and successfully resolved the issue.

Note: The latest version of macOS is 14 Sonoma. However, for this issue, please update to macOS Ventura 13.6 as we're currently in the process of testing and optimizing our latest apps to run on macOS 14 Sonoma. We recommend that you check the system requirements of your Adobe apps for the latest information on compatibility with operating systems and hardware.

Thanks

Rishabh

[treecycles]

Thanks, Rishabh! Glad to hear it's in the works and that the OS update has worked for many folks.

[treecycles]

I updated my OS and InDesign now opens normally.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @treecycles ,

Glad to hear that! By any chance, if you collected the system logs, please share them for investigation.

Thanks

Rishabh

[jpghl]

I have performed the system update and the program still has the same problem. I have the new Sonoma system, thank you for the answer.

[Clarence22]

InDesign only opens if I delete all preferences and having to do this everytime I start up my Mac each morning. I am on the latest OS and InDesign is up to date. I have also re-installed but still happens evey day! Please advise how I can fix this.

[MrMeeseeks]

Same for me, as of yesterday. I deleted and re-installed and it worked but today I'm haivng the exact same problem. Looks like you have to delete and re-install each day. Hopefully a fix is released ASAP!

[Serena31468486icii]

Same issue for me. I hope they'll quickly fix this

[MrMeeseeks]

Actually I'm using v.18.5 with the same problem. I'm going to install v.18.3 to see if that helps.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Check this thread:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-doesn-t-open-and-i-ve-tried-lots-of-res...

[MrMeeseeks]

You can try to start up InDesign while holding Shift-Control-Option-command (Startup Alert - Delete InDesign Preference files): Yes, this works, but then when you close the app and re open, it's the same issue, crashing on launch. Also, all your preferences are lost each time.

But I just noticed that my Mac OS was on Ventura 13.2, whereas 13.5 is available, I just wasn't getting an alert or automatic updates. I had to go to System Settings / General / Software Update and do it manually.

I'm hoping this resolves the issue.

[Anna31847146lf6z]

Did all suggested as above, then finally updated to Mac OS 13.5.1 to  and seems to be ok now 

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @Clarence22 ,

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble. As suggested by other members, if you have macOS we've had similar cases where the issue was resolved by performing an OS update. Please update your OS and inform us if this resolves the problem or if you need further assistance. We'd also appreciate it if you could share the system logs for investigation.

Thank you,
Rishabh

[Carsten3185868898pk]

Ich hab seit ca. 2 Wochen das Problem, dass InDesign 2023 nicht mehr startet. Nur wenn ich über SHIFT + STRG + ALT + CMD ohen Voreinstellungen starte.

Ich hab alle einfachen Wege durch von dieser Anleitung:

https://helpx.adobe.com/de/indesign/kb/crash-on-launch.html

Ausnahme das Löschen der Preferences, diese Ordner gibts bei mir nicht. Nach einer Neuinstallation kann ich das erste regulär Mal starten, danach wieder nicht mehr.

Ich habe keine externen Plugins, nutze auch keine Schriftverwaltung wie Extensis. In der Schriftensammlung sind soweit alle i.O.

Hat jemand eine Idee?

[Laubender]

Hallo Carsten,

auf welchem Betriebssystem genau bist Du unterwegs?
Falls auf macOS Version 13, dann mach ein Update auf die macOS Version 13.5.
Das hat hier im Forum etlichen Leuten geholfen, die ähnliche Probleme hatten.
Adobe arbeitet an einer Lösung.

PS: Den Preferences-Ordner von InDesign gibt's auch bei Dir.
Der ist aber in einem für den Anwender unsichtbaren Verzeichnis abgelegt.

Schau' mal hier rein:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/how-to-reset-indesign-preferences/td-p/13137742

Oder auch da:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/setting-preferences.html


Gruß,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Hi @Carsten3185868898pk ,

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble. As suggested by Deciduous, we've had similar cases where the issue was resolved by performing an OS update. Please update your OS and inform us if this resolves the problem or if you need further assistance. We'd also appreciate it if you could share the system logs for investigation.

Thank you,
Rishabh

[Carsten3185868898pk]

...da war das Problem wieder der Anwender - ich hatte nur beim PC generell in die Ordner geschaut, aber die versteckten Ordner beim User übersehen. Nun hab ich Cahces und Preferences rausgeworfen und es scheint zu laufen 😄

OS Ventura 13.2.1 auf einem M1 iMac. Thanks @Laubender and @Rishabh_Tiwari 

[Laubender]

Hallo Carsten,

falls InDesign wieder rumzickt, dann mach' ein Update des Betriebssystems auf macOS Ventura 13.5.

Bin selbst noch auf macOS 12.6.8 mit einem M1 MacBook Pro von 2021.

Ein kleiner Erfahrungsbericht mit InDesign 18.5.0 auf macOS:

Hier habe ich aktuell das Problem, dass sich InDesign 18.5.0 nicht beenden lässt, wenn ich das entsprechende Menükommando auslöse oder den Kurzbefehl dafür. Vermutlich weil in diesem Moment der Rechner offline ist, also keinen Internetzugang hat. InDesign-Dateien sind nicht geöffnet.

Warum will ich offline ohne Internet arbeiten?

InDesign will offenbar laufend "nach Hause telefonieren" und zeigt dabei ein sehr zähes Verhalten.

Alles braucht lang. Wenn ich zwischen offenen Programmen weg von InDesign wieder zu InDesign zurückkehre, dann kann es bis zu einer Minute brauchen, bis InDesign bereit ist zu interagieren ( buntes Rädchen dreht sich ) .

Meine Dateien liegen sonst auf einem Firmenserver und es sind jede Menge Bilder im Layout platziert deren Links oder Bildschirmvorschauen von InDesign offenbar laufend nachgeschaut oder aktualisiert werden wollen. Auch wenn's keine Serververbindung gibt und die InDesign-Datei hier bei mir lokal auf der Festplatte des MacBook Pros geöffnet wird.

Kein Problem mit einem iMac und InDesign 18.5.0, wenn der im Firmen-LAN eingebunden ist.

Im "Homeoffice" gibt es also Verzögerungen in InDesign ohne Ende. Selbst wenn ich nicht über VPN mit dem Firmen-Server verbunden bin, der Rechner aber Zugang zum Internet hat. Vielleicht liegt's auch an zwei Schriften, die über Adobe Fonts aktiviert sind? Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass dies zu den Verzögerungen beiträgt.

Fazit: Im Moment arbeite ich offline mit dem MacBook Pro im "Homeoffice". Dann habe ich aber das Problem, dass ich InDesign 18.5.0 mit einem "Force-Quit"  über die Aktivitätsanzeige App beenden muss.

Dieses Verhalten sehe ich nicht bei meinem sieben Jahre alten Windows 10 Laptop, der gleich neben dem MacBook Pro auf dem Schreibtisch steht. Dort fühlt sich InDesign 18.5.0 sogar etwas schneller an als auf dem MacBook Pro mit dem M1-Chip.

Bei Gelegenheit werde ich auf InDesign 18.4 zurückwechseln und dann dessen Verhalten testen.

Danke für's Lesen des nun doch recht lange gewordenen Beitrags.

Gruß,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )